John Calder

1927 (Montreal) – 2018 (Edinburgh)

Girodias said he introduced Calder to Beckett, though Calder’s version differed; Beckett and he drank and played chess and billiards in Paris bars, becoming lifelong friends. Burroughs gave him editorial control, saying he started his career. Trocchi and MacDiarmid had a famous spat at a conference he organised, with Mailer, Burroughs and Miller. He also brought Wesker, Pinter, Ionesco and Arden together. Robbe-Grillet (taken on a writers’ tour with Sarraute and Duras) described him as “very trustworthy… with the slight exception of money.”